Slayer release first episode of 'Early Days' documentary series

Heavy metal icons Slayer followed up their announcement of the band’s impending split by posting the first episode of their multi-part documentary series on YouTube. The clip finds band members Tom Araya, Kerry King, Paul Bostaph, and Gary Holt reflecting on their nearly 37-year musical journey. Watch episode one of “Early Days,” in the video above.

King reveals his love of music started in high school in the premiere installment and how he looked for bandmates with “like-minded ideas.” He recalls meeting late Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman (who passed away in 2013) at a warehouse while auditioning for another band. King said, “He was playing songs I know on the guitar sitting at a desk. And I was like, 'Hey, are you in a band?' And he wasn't. So I said, 'Would you like to get together and see what happens?'"

King and Araya list some other jobs they held while trying to catch their music break. King worked at a mini-golf park and a pet shop, among other places. Araya worked at an emblem company. These jobs were a kind of fall-back if music didn’t work out and helped fund their career as it got off the ground.

Slayer has been nominated for five Grammy awards, winning twice. Both wins were in the Best Metal Performance category, with one in 2006 for “Eyes of the Insane” and the other in 2007 for “Final Six.” Both tracks hailed from the band’s 10th studio album, Christ Illusion, which dropped in 2006. The album hit No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart and topped Billboard's US Top Tastemaker Albums chart.

The California band originally formed in 1981 and dropped their most recent studio album, Repentless, in 2015. Repentless is Slayer’s twelfth and final album. Slayer has long been considered one of metal’s four biggest bands, along with Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax.

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